DerekC
Established Member
I heard Boris Johnson announce, with lots of trumpeting, the change of social distance from two metres to "one metre plus" from 4th July. But that isn't what the government guidelines say, if I am reading them right. I am responsible for doing the risk assessment for the reopening of our local community hall, so I am looking at them rather carefully. Of course the guidelines for community buildings haven't been issued yet (silly of me to look for them really) so I have looked at the ones for pubs and restaurants instead. What they say is " 2m, or 1m with risk mitigation where 2m is not viable, is acceptable - you should consider and set out the mitigations you will introduce in your risk assessments". So it's 2m, unless you can show that 1m is not viable for your business or organisation in which case you have to mitigate the risk of the closer distance.
And of course, encouraged by the media, people are already interpreting that as one metre plus or minus a bit.
If I am right in my reading of the guidelines, isn't this the most dangerous Johnson fudge yet? It would appear to have been done so that he can make a big announcement which sounds good whilst keeping the scientific advisors onside by writing guidelines which convey a different message if you read them carefully.
And of course, encouraged by the media, people are already interpreting that as one metre plus or minus a bit.
If I am right in my reading of the guidelines, isn't this the most dangerous Johnson fudge yet? It would appear to have been done so that he can make a big announcement which sounds good whilst keeping the scientific advisors onside by writing guidelines which convey a different message if you read them carefully.